Cleaning apparatus.



I. H. SPENCER.

CLEANING APPARATUS.

APPLICATION FILED NOV. 3, 1908.

1 0M383. Patented Sept. 9, 1913.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 1.

WITNESSES.-- INVENTOR- I I I v .7 98W @34 V ATTORNEY.

I. H. SPENCER.

CLEANING APPARATUS.

APPLIOATION FILED NOV. 3, 190a.

lpygsjjgg Patented Sept. 9, 1913.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

I MK 9 A TTORNE Y.

, such dust or other matter.

Ina H. srnncnn, or wnsr nan'rronn,

oonnncrrcur, Assron'ot; TO THE srnnonn TURBINE CLEANER COMPANY, OF HARTFORD, CONNECTICUT, A CORPORATION OF ooivnnc'rrourr.

inmates,

' Specification of Letters Patent.

CLEANING APPARATUS.

Patented Sept. 9, 1913.

Application filed; November 3, 1908. Serial No. 460,932.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, IRA H. SPENCER, a citizen of the United States, and a resident of West Hartford, in the county of Hartford and State of Connecticut, have invented a new and Improved Cleaning Apparatus, of which the following is a'specification.

My invention relates generally to the class of devices employed for removing dust or like material from various places, and more especially tothe class of such devices as employs a current of fluid, the force of which is utilized to displace .the dust, and the object of my invention among others is to provide a device of this class in which the dust or other material removed from certain places shall not accumulate in other equally objectionable places; and a further object of the invention is to provide a device having novel features of advantage and utility.

A form of device in the use of which the objects sought may be attained is illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in which Figure 1 is a perspective view of an apparatus embodying my invention. Fig. 2 is a view on enlarged scale of a portion of the apparatus shown in Fig. 1, with parts broken away to show construction, the tool being shown removed from its receiver. Fig. 3 is a detail view in cross-section of the brush. Fig. dis a detail view showing a modified form of construction.

It has been found desirable to provide in numerous places such means for the removal of dust or similar material as will prevent such'matter removed from one place from being deposited in other equally objectionable places, and at the same time it is important that the means for such removal shall be readily at hand, easily manipulated, and that shall not require in its use operations other than those actually required in the ,manipulation of the device to remove Such an apparatus is especially convenient and has manifold advantages in the erasure of chalk or like marks from blackboards or -similar places, and while the device is not in any sense limited to use in connection with such devices, I have selected such for the purpose of illustration and description of the invention herein.

devices illustrated and described herein this being an exhauster, or one that creates a fiow of fluid as of air through the pipes in a manner to cause asuction at the inlets to the tools. This exhauster may be of any. desired form and construction and is suitably connected with a main 7 located and extending to such places as may be required. This exhauster may be suitably located as in the cellar of a building, as a school building, store or the like, and the mains extended throughout the building and having branches Sleading to such places as may be required for the location of the cleaning tools.

The numeral 10 denotes a portion of a blackboard having a ledge or shelf 11 and underneath this shelf, the latter preferably forming a top therefor, a box or housing 12. The branch 8 extends into this housing in any suitable manner and is connected with a valve casing 13 in which a valve 14 is located and movable to engage a valve seat 15 at the end of the branch 8, the valve thus serving to close the opening from said branch into the valve casing 13. This valve casing has a chamber 16 'With an outlet 17. A valve stem 18 supports the valve 14, this stem passing out of the chamber 16 through a suitable device as a stufiing box 19.

A valve lever 20 is pivotally mounted as on a link 21 on the valve casing, and a spring 22 is employed to move the lever to draw the valve 1 1 away from its seat. A connecting rod 23 pivotally attached to the lever 20 extends to a receiver 24. This receiver, in the form of construction shown, extends through an opening25 in the shelf or top 11 of the housing 12 and is freely movable in said opening. The connecting rod is secured to the receiver so that the latter in its movement will operate the valve I lever 20.

A fluid conductor 26 is connected with the valve casing 13 and a tool 27 is attached to this conductor. This tool may be of any suitable form and construction for the special purpose required of it, in the form of device herein shown this tool being a brush having a rubbing surface common to the kind of brushes employed in the erasure of chalk marks from blackboards.

The conductor 26 is attached preferably to one end of the brush and communicates with a chamber 28 therein, this chamber having an inlet or mouth 29 extending through material, as wool or cotton, common to deemployed. "Two valve seats 31 are locatedvices of this class.

It will be seen from the illustration, taken in connection with the above description, that when the brush is in place in its receiver, the weight of the brush will cause the receiver to rest in its lowermost position, in which position the valve 14: will be closed so that there will be no current of air through the conductor 26,. It will be understood that the exhauster 6 is in continual operation.

- When it is desired to erase marks from the blackboard, or to remove dust from any place, as from the shelves or counters of a store, or from articles deposited thereon, the tool, as the eraser 27 is moved from its position in the receiver for the purpose required. The receiver being thus relievedof sthe-weight of the tool, the spring 22 raises the lever 20, thus lifting the valve 14: from its seat and causing a flow of air through the valve chamber toward the exhauster'.

This causes an inflow through the inlet 29 of the tool or eraser, and as the latter is moved over the surface to erase the chalk marks or to remove dust, all thedust stirred up by the erasing surface 30 is carried in at the inlet. This effectually removes the dirt from the room and prevents its accumulation upon other articles or. surfaces. It will be seen from this construction that no act is required on the part of the operative to cause a flow of the air currents, or to start up a device to cause'such flow, the simpleact of removing the tool from its receiver serving to place the device in operation for the purpose of removing the dust or dirt.

The spring 22 is of suflicientfstrength to open the valve and the weight of the eraser or tool 27 will readily overcome the action. of the spring owing to the greater leverage obtained by reason of connecting the receiver 24 .to the outer end of the lever 20,:and this will be readily accomplished with a brush or tool of normal or convenient weight.

The form of'device'shown in Fig. 4 is inits gIeneral operation similar to that of Fi 2. n Fig. 4, however, a balancedvalve 1s in the dividing wall 32 between the. inlet chamber 33 and outlet chamber.34= of the valve body 35. The valve stem 36' is connected up'in a manner similar to the con:-

struction shown in Fig. 2, the parts in fact being the same with the exception that in place ofthe sprin 22 secured to the lever 20 between its en s, a spring 37 exerts its force upon the. outer"or free end of the simply suflicient to lever, this spr' g bein overcome the weight of the receiver. 24.

.It will be noted that the valve is so located that when a, tool is-not in use there is no communication between the valve chamber and the branches ormains leading to the exhauster. That is,the valve 'is so located as to out 01f entirely all parts which are %ial1 {le, by reason of their construction, to ea While I have shown and described herein the preferred embodiment of my invention, I do not limit myself to the use herein described or to the construction of the apparatus shown,,as these may be departed from to agreater or lesser extent without, avoiding the invention.

. I claim- 1. A valve to control the flow of a fluid,

past said valve, a tool connected with said conductor and having an inlet for sald fluid, a movably mounted tool receiver arranged tomove under the influence of the weight of said tool, and an unbroken connection between said-receiver and valve to operate the latter.

a flexible tubular conductor for flow of fluid 2. A valve to control the flow of a fluid,-

a flexible tubular conductor for flow of fluid past said valve, a tool having an .inlet for said fluid and connected with said conductor, a vertically movable receiver for the tool actuated by the weight of thelatter, and connections between said receiver and valve to operate the latter.

3. An apparatus for creating a current of fluid, a tool having an opening for the flow ofsaid fluid, a conduit for said fluid between said tool and current creatlng means and including a flexible conductor, a valve in said condu1t between said current creatmeans and flexible conductor to con-- tr l the flow of fluid, means to support the tool and that end of the conductor secured thereto when said parts are not in use, and an operative connection between said supporting means and the valve to operate t e latter upon the removal of said tool, said connection being arranged to ermitlength wise movement of the flexi le conductor within said support in the operation of the tool.

4. An apparatus for creating a current of fluid,-a tool having an opening for flow of said'fluid, means includlng a flexible conductor connected to said tool for conductin said flow, a valve to control said flow, sai valve bein located between the flexible conductor an the current creating means',,a housing for said flexible conductor, atubular receiver movably located in an opening inthe wall of the housing, a connect on between said receiver and valve to operate the latter, and a tool secured to the flexible conductor and arranged to be held by said receiver. I

5. An apparatus for creating flow of a v tool and said current creating means and including a flexible conductor, a valve l0- cated to control the flow of fluid through said conductor, a tubular receiver arranged to receive said tool and through which receiver said flexible connection extends anda connection between said receiver and valve to operate the latter.

6. A valve to control the flow of a fluid, a flexible tubular conductor for flow of fluid past said valve, a tool having an inlet for said fluid and connected with said conducl tor, a movably supported receiver for said tool, and a connection between said receiver flexible tubular conductor for flow of fluid a tool having an open--.

through said valve, ing for'the passage of said fluid, a tool receiver connected with said valve and operating to close the valve when the tool is the receiver, and means for opening sald valve.

IRA I-L'SPENCER. Witnesses:

REGINALD BIRNEY, MAY 0. CARROLL. 

